What is the nonprofit status of the Internet Archive? From where does its funding come?

The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It receives in-kind and financial donations from a variety of sources as well as you.

How do I get assistance with research? How about research about a particular book?

The Internet Archive focuses on preservation and providing access to digital cultural artifacts. For assistance with research or appraisal, you are bound to find the information you seek elsewhere on the internet. You may wish to inquire about reference services provided by your local public library.
Your area's college library may also support specialized reference librarian services.
We encourage your support of your local library, and the essential services your library's professional staff can provide in person. Local libraries are still an irreplaceable resource!

What statistics are available about use of Archive.org?

What user stats do you keep and share?
The only users stats we track are the "views" of items on the site.

Where are they?
For collections they are viewable in a chart form in the "About" tab on a collection page. These numbers represent views in all the items in that collection. These are updated daily.
For items they are shown on the right side of the details page. These are updated daily.
Search results pages also show the "views" to the left of the page title. These numbers may differ from those on item and collection pages because they are updated monthly rather than daily.

What is a "view"?
A "view" used to be called a "download" on archive.org.
How are "views" counted?
archive.org calculates a view as:
one action (read a book, download a file, watch a movie, etc.), per day, per IP Address.
So, for each item page, using multiple files or accessing from multiple accounts in a single day will only count as one view.

How often are they counted?
Item pages are updated daily so the current number would reflect the count through the previous day.
Collection counts shown in the graph on the "About" page are updated monthly.

Societies have always placed importance on preserving their culture and heritage. But much early 20th-century media -- television and radio, for example -- was not saved. The Library of Alexandria -- an ancient center of learning containing a copy of every book in the world -- disappeared when it was burned to the ground.

Search Tips

Where is advanced search?

On archive.org there is an "Advanced Search" link just below the search input field. For searches done in the search field in the top black nav bar the "Advanced Search" link will be present on the search results page just below the search input field.

What search APIs are available

Information about how to use the various search APIs can be found at https://archive.org/help/aboutsearch.htm

Can I search by Creative Commons license?

Yes, you can. But it's a little complicated.

Here's how to break it down. See the license types at creative commons. When you want to find all of the items assigned a certain license by an uploading party, you'll plug their abbreviation for it into this search query:
licenseurl:http*abbreviation*

So if you're looking for Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd), you'd put this in the search box:
licenseurl:http*by-nc-nd*

If you want to use this in combination with other queries, like "I want by-nc-nd items about dogs" you'd do this:
licenseurl:http*by-nc-nd* AND dog.
The AND tells the search engine all the items returned should have that license AND they should contain the word dog. AND has to be in all caps.

The "SORT BY" bar has options to allow you to control which results are displayed, in what order and what "view":

How do I search just within a collection?

On a collection page there will be a "Search this Collection" input field on the right side of the page. Enter a term there and hit your return/enter key. The results will be of items in that collection.

For advanced boolean search you can use "AND collection:[IDENTIFIER]" in your query.

How can I use list view instead of tile view?

For most search results pages you can choose the view in the "Sort by" bar; Tile view (the icon with three rectangles) or List view (the icon with multiple lines.) Tile view is the default view.

What is indexed in the search engine?

Only the metadata in an item page is indexed. So the search engine does not have the text of books, individual file metadata or embedded metadata.

Prelinger Movies

How did you digitize the films?

The Prelinger Archives films are held in original film form (35mm, 16mm, 8mm, Super 8mm, and various obsolete formats like 28mm and 9.5mm). Films were first transferred to Betacam SP videotape, a widely used analog broadcast video standard, on telecine machines manufactured by Rank Cintel or Bosch. The film-to-tape transfer process is not a real-time process: It requires inspection of the film, repair of any physical damage, and supervision by a skilled operator who manipulates color, contrast, speed, and video controls.

The videotape masters created in the film-to-tape transfer suite were digitized in 2001-2003 at Prelinger Archives in New York City using an encoding workstation built by Rod Hewitt. The workstation is a 550 MHz PC with a FutureTel NS320 MPEG encoder card. Custom software, also written by Rod Hewitt, drove the Betacam SP playback deck and managed the encoding process. The files were uploaded to hard disk through the courtesy of Flycode, Inc.

More recently, Prelinger films have been digitized and uploaded by Skip Elsheimer at AV Geeks. We are also digitizing home movies and other materials on Internet Archive's ScanStation scanner.

The files were encoded at constant bitrates ranging from 2.75 Mbps to 3.5 Mbps. Most were encoded at 480 x 480 pixels (2/3 D1) or 368 x 480 (roughly 1/2 D1). The encoder drops horizontal pixels during the digitizing process, which during decoding are interpolated by the decoder to produce a 720 x 480 picture. (Rod Hewitt's site Coolstf shows examples of an image before and after this process.) Picture quality is equal to or better than most direct broadcast satellite television. Audio was encoded at MPEG-1 Level 2, generally at 112 kbps. Both the MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 movies have mono audio tracks.

To convert the MPEG-2 video to MPEG-4, we used a program called FlasK MPEG. This is an MPEG-1/2 to AVI conversion tool that reads the source MPEG-2 and outputs an AVI file containing the video in MPEG-4 format and audio in uncompressed PCM format. We then use a program called Virtual Dub that recompresses the audio using the MPEG-1 Level 3 (MP3) format. This process is automated by the software that runs the system.

Do I need to inform the Internet Archive and/or Prelinger Archives when I reuse these movies?

No. However, we would very much like to know how you have used this material, and we'd be thrilled to see what you've made with it. This may well help us improve this site. Please consider sending us a copy of your production (postal mail only), and let us know whether we can call attention to it on the site. Our address is:

Rick PrelingerPO Box 590622San Francisco, CA 94159United States

How can I get access to stock footage from these films?

Access to the movies stored on this site in videotape or film form is available to commercial users through Getty Images, representing Prelinger Archives for stock footage sales. Please contact Getty Images directly:

Please visit us at www.prelinger.com/prelarch.html for more information on access to these and similar films. Prelinger Archives regrets that it cannot generally provide access to movies stored on this Web site in other ways than through the site itself. We recognize that circumstances may arise when such access should be granted, and we welcome email requests. Please address them to Rick Prelinger.

The Internet Archive does not provide access to these films other than through this site.

An article on re-coding Prelinger Archive films to SVCD so you can watch them on your DVD player.

The films are available for reuse according to the Creative Commons licenses, if any, that appear with on each film's detail page. Pursuant to the Creative Commons license, you are warmly encouraged to download, use and reproduce these films in whole or in part, in any medium or market throughout the world. You are also warmly encouraged to share, exchange, redistribute, transfer and copy these films, and especially encouraged to do so for free.

Any derivative works that you produce using these films are yours to perform, publish, reproduce, sell, or distribute in any way you wish without any limitations.

Descriptions, synopses, shotlists and other metadata provided by Prelinger Archives to this site are copyrighted jointly by Prelinger Archives and Getty Images. They may be quoted, excerpted or reproduced for educational, scholarly, nonprofit or archival purposes, but may not be reproduced for commercial purposes of any kind without permission.

If you require a written license agreement or need access to stock footage in a physical format (such as videotape or a higher-quality digital file), please contact Getty Images. The Internet Archive does not furnish written license agreements, nor does it comment on the rights status of a given film above and beyond the Creative Commons license.

We would appreciate attribution or credit whenever possible, but do not require it.

Largely because of copyright law. While a high percentage of ephemeral films were never originally copyrighted or (if initially copyrighted) never had their copyrights properly renewed, copyright laws still protect most moving image works produced in the United States from 1964 to the present. Since the Prelinger collection on this site exists to supply material to users without most rights restrictions, every title has been checked for copyright status. Those titles that either are copyrighted or whose status is in question have not been made available. For information on recent changes in copyright law, see the circular Duration of Copyright (in PDF format) published by the Library of Congress

The Wayback Machine

Can I link to old pages on the Wayback Machine?

Yes! The Wayback Machine is built so that it can be used and referenced. If you find an archived page that you would like to reference on your Web page or in an article, you can copy the URL. You can even use fuzzy URL matching and date specification... but that's a bit more advanced.

Who was involved in the creation of the Internet Archive Wayback Machine?

"The original idea for the Internet Archive Wayback Machine began in 1996, when the Internet Archive first began archiving the web. Now, five years later, with over 100 terabytes and a dozen web crawls completed, the Internet Archive has made the Internet Archive Wayback Machine available to the public. The Internet Archive has relied on donations of web crawls, technology, and expertise from Alexa Internet and others. The Internet Archive Wayback Machine is owned and operated by the Internet Archive."

How was the Wayback Machine made?

Alexa Internet, in cooperation with the Internet Archive, has designed a three dimensional index that allows browsing of web documents over multiple time periods, and turned this unique feature into the Wayback Machine.

How do you archive dynamic pages?

There are many different kinds of dynamic pages, some of which are easily stored in an archive and some of which fall apart completely. When a dynamic page renders standard html, the archive works beautifully. When a dynamic page contains forms, JavaScript, or other elements that require interaction with the originating host, the archive will not contain the original site's functionality.

How can I use the Wayback Machine’s Site Search to find websites?

The Site Search feature of the Wayback Machine is based on an index built by evaluating terms from hundreds of billions of links to the homepages of more than 350 million sites. Search results are ranked by the number of captures in the Wayback and the number of relevant links to the site's homepage.

Can I search the Archive?

Using the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, it is possible to search for the names of sites contained in the Archive (URLs) and to specify date ranges for your search. We hope to implement a full text search engine at some point in the future.

Do you collect all the sites on the Web?

No, the Archive collects web pages that are publicly available. We do not archive pages that require a password to access, pages that are only accessible when a person types into and sends a form, or pages on secure servers. Pages may not be archived due to robots exclusions and some sites are excluded by direct site owner request.

Why isn't the site I'm looking for in the archive?

Some sites may not be included because the automated crawlers were unaware of their existence at the time of the crawl. It's also possible that some sites were not archived because they were password protected, blocked by robots.txt, or otherwise inaccessible to our automated systems. Site owners might have also requested that their sites be excluded from the Wayback Machine.

How can I have my site's pages excluded from the Wayback Machine?

You can send an email request for us to review to info@archive.org with the URL (web address) in the text of your message.

How can I use the Wayback Machine’s Site Search to find websites?

The Site Search feature of the Wayback Machine is based on an index built by evaluating terms from hundreds of billions of links to the homepages of more than 350 million sites. Search results are ranked by the number of captures in the Wayback and the number of relevant links to the site's homepage.

Why is the Internet Archive collecting sites from the Internet? What makes the information useful?

Most societies place importance on preserving artifacts of their culture and heritage. Without such artifacts, civilization has no memory and no mechanism to learn from its successes and failures. Our culture now produces more and more artifacts in digital form. The Archive's mission is to help preserve those artifacts and create an Internet library for researchers, historians, and scholars. The Archive collaborates with institutions including the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian.

Do you archive email? Chat?

No, we do not collect or archive chat systems or personal email messages that have not been posted to Usenet bulletin boards or publicly accessible online message boards.

How can I get a copy of the pages on my Web site? If my site got hacked or damaged, could I get a backup from the Archive?'

Our terms of use do not cover backups for the general public. However, you may use the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to locate and access archived versions of a site to which you own the rights. We can't guarantee that your site has been or will be archived. We can no longer offer the service to pack up sites that have been lost.

Is there any personal information in these collections?

We collect Web pages that are publicly accessible. These may include pages with personal information.

Can I add pages to the Wayback Machine?

On https://archive.org/web you can use the "Save Page Now" feature to save a specific page one time. This does not currently add the URL to any future crawls nor does it save more than that one page. It does not save multiple pages, directories or entire sites.

How do I contact the Internet Archive?

All questions about the Wayback Machine, or other Internet Archive projects, should be addressed to info@archive.org.

Where is the rest of the archived site? Why am I getting broken or gray images on a site?

Broken images occur when the images are not available on our servers. Usually this means that we did not archive them.

You can tell if the image or link you are looking for is in the Wayback Machine by entering the image or link’s URL into the Wayback Machine search box. Whatever archives we have are viewable in the Wayback Machine.

The best way to see all the files we have archived of the site is:
http://web.archive.org/*/www.yoursite.com/*

There is a 3-10 hour lag time between the time a site is crawled and when it appears in the Wayback Machine.

Why are some sites harder to archive than others?

If you look at our collection of archived sites, you will find some broken pages, missing graphics, and some sites that aren't archived at all. Some of the things that may cause this are:

Robots.txt -- A site’s robots.txt document may have prevented the crawling of a site.

Javascript -- Javascript elements are often hard to archive, but especially if they generate links without having the full name in the page. Plus, if javascript needs to contact the originating server in order to work, it will fail when archived.

Server side image maps -- Like any functionality on the web, if it needs to contact the originating server in order to work, it will fail when archived.

Orphan pages -- If there are no links to your pages, the robot won't find it (the robots don't enter queries in search boxes.)

As a general rule of thumb, simple html is the easiest to archive.

Can I find sites by searching for words that are in their pages?

No, at least not yet. Site Search for the Wayback Machine will help you find the homepages of sites, based on words people have used to describe those sites, as opposed to words that appear on pages from sites.

Can I still find sites in the Wayback Machine if I just know the URL?

Yes, just enter a domain or URL the way you have in the past and press the "Browse History" button.

What is the Wayback Machine? How can I get my site included in the Wayback Machine?

The Internet Archive
Wayback Machine is a service that allows people to visit archived versions of Web sites. Visitors to the Wayback Machine can type in a URL, select a date range, and then begin surfing on an archived version of the Web. Imagine surfing circa 1999 and looking at all the Y2K hype, or revisiting an older version of your favorite Web site. The Internet Archive Wayback Machine can make all of this possible.

How can I get my site included in the Wayback Machine?

Much of our archived web data comes from our own crawls or from Alexa Internet's crawls. Neither organization has a "crawl my site now!" submission process. Internet Archive's crawls tend to find sites that are well linked from other sites. The best way to ensure that we find your web site is to make sure it is included in online directories and that similar/related sites link to you.

Alexa Internet uses its own methods to discover sites to crawl. It may be helpful to install the free Alexa toolbar and visit the site you want crawled to make sure they know about it.

Regardless of who is crawling the site, you should ensure that your site's 'robots.txt' rules and in-page META robots directives do not tell crawlers to avoid your site.

What are the sources of your captures?

When you roll over individual web captures (that pop-up when you roll over the dots on the calendar page for a URL,) you may notice some text links shows up above the calendar, along with the word “why”. Those links will take you to the Collection of web captures associated with the specific web crawl the capture came from. Every day hundreds of web crawls contribute to the web captures available via the Wayback Machine. Behind each, there is a story about factors like who, why, when and how.

Why are some of the dots on the calendar page different colors?

We color the dots, and links, associated with individual web captures, or multiple web captures, for a given day. Blue means the web server result code the crawler got for the related capture was a 2nn (good); Green means the crawlers got a status code 3nn (redirect); Orange means the crawler got a status code 4nn (client error), and Red means the crawler saw a 5nn (server error). Most of the time you will probably want to select the blue dots or links.

How does the Wayback Machine behave with Javascript turned off?

If you have Javascript turned off, images and links will be from the live web, not from our archive of old Web files.

How did I end up on the live version of a site? or I clicked on X date, but now I am on Y date, how is that possible?

Not every date for every site archived is 100% complete. When you are surfing an incomplete archived site the Wayback Machine will grab the closest available date to the one you are in for the links that are missing. In the event that we do not have the link archived at all, the Wayback Machine will look for the link on the live web and grab it if available. Pay attention to the date code embedded in the archived url. This is the list of numbers in the middle; it translates as yyyymmddhhmmss. For example in this url http://web.archive.org/web/20000229123340/http://www.yahoo.com/ the date the site was crawled was Feb 29, 2000 at 12:33 and 40 seconds.

You can see a listing of the dates of the specific URL by replacing the date code with an asterisk (*), ie: http://web.archive.org/*/www.yoursite.com

Where does the name come from?

The Wayback Machine is named in reference to the famous Mr. Peabody's WABAC (pronounced way-back) machine from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon show.

How do I cite Wayback Machine urls in MLA format?

This question is a newer one. We asked MLA to help us with how to cite an archived URL in correct format. They did say that there is no established format for resources like the Wayback Machine, but it's best to err on the side of more information. You should cite the webpage as you would normally, and then give the Wayback Machine information. They provided the following example:
McDonald, R. C. "Basic Canary Care." _Robirda Online_. 12 Sept. 2004. 18
Dec. 2006 [http://www.robirda.com/cancare.html]. _Internet Archive_. [
http://web.archive.org/web/20041009202820/http://www.robirda.com/cancare.html].
They added that if the date that the information was updated is missing, one can use the closest date in the Wayback Machine. Then comes the date when the page is retrieved and the original URL. Neither URL should be underlined in the bibliography itself.
Thanks MLA!

What is the Archive-It service of the Internet Archive Wayback Machine?

The Internet Archive actively seeks donations of digital materials for preservation. If you have digital materials that may be of interest to future generations, please let us know by sending an email to info at archive dot org. The Internet Archive is also seeking additional funding to continue this important mission. You can click the donate tab above or click here. Thank you for considering us in your charitable giving.

Who has access to the collections? What about the public?

Anyone can access our collections through our website archive.org. The web archive can be searched using the Wayback Machine.

The Archive makes the collections available at no cost to researchers, historians, and scholars. At present, it takes someone with a certain level of technical knowledge to access collections in a way other than our website, but there is no requirement that a user be affiliated with any particular organization.

How can I get pages authenticated from the Wayback Machine? How can use the pages in court?

The Wayback Machine tool was not designed for legal use. We do have a legal request policy found at our legal page. Please read through the entire policy before contacting us with your questions. We do have a standard affidavit as well as a FAQ section for lawyers. We would prefer that before you contact us for such services, you see if the other side will stipulate instead. We do not have an in-house legal staff, so this service takes away from our normal duties. Once you have read through our policy, if you still have questions, please contact us for more information.

Some sites are not available because of robots.txt or other exclusions. What does that mean?

Such sites may have been excluded from the Wayback Machine due to a robots.txt file on the site or at a site owner’s direct request.

What is the Wayback Machine's Copyright Policy?

The Internet Archive respects the intellectual property rights and other proprietary rights of others. The Internet Archive may, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, remove certain content or disable access to content that appears to infringe the copyright or other intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that your copyright has been violated by material available through the Internet Archive, please provide the Internet Archive Copyright Agent with the following information:

Identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;

An exact description of where the material about which you complain is located within the Internet Archive collections;

Your address, telephone number, and email address;

A statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;

A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the owner of the copyright interest involved or are authorized to act on behalf of that owner;

Audio

How do I specify an image for my page?

Once you've uploaded it to the item follow this clickpath:
Edit > change the information > scroll down to Files, formats and derivations > in dropdown menu next to the image file choose "Item Image" > click the "Submit" button.

How do I link to a specific audio track?

You would need the URL of the file to link to it. To get that click "SHOW ALL" link in the DOWNLOAD OPTIONS section of an item's details page. There you can control/right-click on the link to the file and copy the URL.

How do I add cover art?

An uploaded image file will automatically be displayed to the left of the audio player. Ideally the image would be at minimum 750p wide. Images should be jpg, png or gif format.

What are the other non-audio format files that were derived?

These files are important for the display/setup/research of items.Columbia Peaks-.afpk are audio fingerprint files created by running the audfprint package by Prof Daniel Ellis from Columbia University. These can be bulk downloaded and then loaded into a database that allows matching clips and whole songs. We have not tried this at scale. if you are interested, please let us know-- we want this to happen.esslow/esshigh-These are a series of analyses of the nature of the music. spectrogram-a file derived from audio data the is a visual representation of the audio. it can be used by researchers and others to analyze audio data.waveform-a derived image file that is a visual representation of the volume of the audio track._rules.conf-If you selected to not have lossy files derived this file will appear in the item directory.

How do I control the order of tracks in the playlist?

The order of the playlist is determined by the alphanumeric order of the file names, not the titles. To force a desired order you can add number prefixes to the file names. Always use the same amount of digits for the prefix so if there are more than 10 start with 01, more than 100 start with 001.
As an example:
01trackone.flac
02tracktwo.flac
03trackthree.flac
etc.

What is the squiggly line in the player?

The is a spectrogram representation of the volume of the audio track. It can be helpful to spot silences between sound or particularly loud or quite sections. This can help you locate sections you might want to find without having to listen to the entire track. It is not scrubbable. Move the play bar to move to another section of the track

How can I adjust the volume in the player?

At this time the volume is an on/off toggle. To control the volume use the volume adjust on your computer or device.

How do I embed the player?

Click the "Share" icon near the player. A popup window will offer URLs for embedding. For more advance options click the "Advanced embedding details, examples, and help!" link at the bottom of the popup.

How can I play ogg or lossless formats (flac, wav, aiff, shn) files?

There are many players available for these formats. Some are free, some are devices. Search online for ogg player or flac player to get started.

How do I change the titles in the track playlist?

Follow this clickpath:
Edit > change the information > scroll down to the "Files, Formats & Derivatives" section > enter a title in the "Title" field adjacent to the file name > click the "Submit" button

Can I upload a zip file of audio tracks and have them be playable?

For audio item files in compressed formats (zip, tar, etc.) will neither be derive to other formats nor be used by the audio player. You should upload the files as separate files.

Should I use the html5 or Flash player?

The html5 audio player is the default player. Some browsers may prefer to use Flash. Clicking the "lightning bolt" icon on the right side of the player will with it to a Flash based player.

How can I play a downloaded audio track?

There are many players available. Many come standard on devices such as Quicktime (Mac) or Windows Media Player (PC). You can search for others online. VLC is a nice and flexible free player for audio and video.

What is the bitrate of derived audio files?

VBR MP3 and ogg files that are derived from other formats are typically in the 150-200mbps bitrate range.

What kind of audio file should I submit?

The archive is all about free access to information, so you should submit file formats that are easily downloadable and/or streamable for other site patrons.

We prefer that you submit the highest quality file that you have available. We will attempt to create smaller file sizes and formats automatically with our deriver program. We recommend that you do not attempt to do any special encoding of your files - the more settings you mess around with, the less likely our deriver code will be able to process the file.

If you are submitting a Live Music Archive item, please only submit lossless formats such as flac, wav, aiff or shn files. Even for non-LMA items, these are the best formats to use.

Whatever format you choose, please upload each file to your item individually (you can submit multiple files per item), in a non-compressed format. Uploading content in a .zip or .rar file makes your item unstreamable and significantly less accessible to others. If you upload .zip, .rar, non-audio formats (like .exe), or password-protected files, they may be removed by our moderators.

This page lists the file formats we will attempt to derive depending on what type of file you submit.

MS-DOS Emulation

The Program is running WAY TOO FAST!

Some of the programs running in EM-DOSBOX relied on timing loops and CPU types that the emulator is not showing. We're working on a solution where we can pre-repair the speed before running, but until then, there is a fix: While the program is running, press CTRL-F11 to slow the program down. Pressing CTRL-F11 repeatedly will slow it down further, until the speed is more reasonable. (Pressing CTRL-F12 repeatedly will attempt to speed things up.)

I want to save my game! How do I do that?

Currently, there is no way to save your game, although we are trying to work out if this is technologically possible.

What is MS-DOS Emulation on the Internet Archive?

The Internet Archive's software collections have a number of in-browser emulators to allow limited access to software, by making the software play within (most) browsers. The majority of this is done with the JSMESS (Javascript MESS) system, which is utilized in multiple collections, such as the Console Living Room or the Internet Arcade. For one collection, the MS-DOS Software Library, we have implemented the EM-DOSBOX emulator, which is based off of the DOSBOX project and which is designed specifically for DOS-compatible programs.

I can see my mouse and the program's mouse.

In the programs where a mouse cursor is provided, your mouse will generally work. However, to prevent both mouse cursors (the DOS cursor and your computer's cursor) from being on the screen at the same time, select the full screen option.

The EM-DOSBOX emulator is a javascript program running in a browser - it requires a lot of CPU to run, and definitely requires the most up-to-date browsers to take advantages of speed enhancements. We highly suggest you update to the latest Chrome or Firefox to ensure the program runs at top speed. The difference between versions even a few months or a year apart can be multiple times.
In a few rare cases, the game or program being run does certain video or programming tricks that confuse the emulator, and the whole program runs notably slow, slower than even a taxed system should run. This is due to incompatibility with the emulator, and unfortunately will require the DOSBOX project to improve emulation going forward.

It's not working for me. (Common Issues)

As it is experimental and very new technology, there are a number of places that the MS-DOS Em-DOSBOX emulator can fail to work.

The most common is browser incompatibility - the EM-DOSBOX emulator works best in the Firefox and Chrome browsers, but also works in Internet Explorer and Safari. Bear in mind that only the most recent versions of these browsers will work best with EM-DOSBOX.

If you do not see the DOSBOX Logo in the player, be sure you do not have javascript blockers or ad blockers working on the page - the player is created in Javascript.

If the browser has slowdown issues or crashes, please let us know - there might be a MS-DOS program that is not compatible with EM-DOSBOX in a way our testing has not yet revealed.

If the "spinning disk" after pressing SPACE to load the program never stops spinning, there is an error with the program image. Please let us know about the non-functioning program and we'll track down the issue.

There are multiple reasons the MS-DOS section might not have a game or application in its library. They include:

The game requires a CD-ROM's amount of information to run. Since this is an in-browser emulation, larger datasets (greater than 10 or 20mb) run into all sorts of issues when being loaded. The size, not the use of a CD-ROM, is the core issue, so even disk-based games that used a lot of space are not being loaded up.

The game, in some way, is not compatible with the EM-DOSBOX emulator. If we find the current incarnation of the emulator plus the version of the game is causing crashes, freezing or strange errors, we will likely remove the item just to limit frustration for users - there's nothing more bothersome than trying to track down a problem that could be anything from your browser to a strange programming choice made 25 years ago.

The game is still for sale. Happily, a number of vintage DOS programs have been updated, fixed for compatibility, and continue to be sold at a deep discount to a modern audience. Sites that provide sales to these updated DOS versions include Good Old Games and Steam.

Finally, we may simply not be aware of the application or game and not have an example of it. We're always adding more programs as we can.

Yes, almost all contemporary BitTorrent clients allow you to select which files included in the Torrent are downloaded. And even when you download only one or some files, you get the speed advantages of using the format.

Many show a list of the files contained in the Torrent, and both folders and individual files can be selected or deselected both before, and during, download.

It is recommend, in fact, that you deselect the top-level directory within the Torrent named ._____padding_file if there is one, as this contains unnecessary (empty) Internet Archive padding files.

My Torrent download never completes?

Most likely, you have an out-of-date Torrent for the Item you are trying to download. The first thing to try is re-downloading the Items' Torrent, and trying again.

Torrents for Items on the Internet Archive can become obsolete when the Item the Torrent is for changes. In that case, some or (more rarely) all of the files within the Torrent will fail to download completely.

This is because our Torrents rely heavily on webseeding (download directly from our servers, when no peers have the files you are seeking). When files on our servers have changed since the Torrent was made, they will not match expected 'piece hashes'; some BitTorrent clients (e.g. Transmission) will attempt to re-download file pieces from changed files over and over, forever, assuming there was an error in transmission, when in fact the file has changed.

Torrents that never download at all most likely are the result of a different problem, lack of client support for Getright-style webseeding.

My Torrent download never starts?

It's worth mentioning that some BitTorrent clients take a very long time to begin downloading when relying on webseeding (a common requirement when using Archive BitTorrents). At times downloads can take upwards of several minutes to start.

We're not sure exactly why; we suspect those clients exhaust all other options, such as DHT, before falling back on webseeds. (We have observed this behavior with Transmission.)

If you download an up-to-date (current) Torrent from the Archive, and it loads into your BitTorrent client, but download never begins, the most likely cause is that you are using a BitTorrent client that does not support Getright-style webseeding.

Our Torrents rely heavily on webseeding (download directly from our servers, when no peers have the files you are seeking). Some BitTorrent clients (e.g. rTorrent) do not support Getright-style webseeding, and will not be able to download un-seeded Internet Archive Torrents.

At the moment, the only solution to this problem is to use a different client.

Another possibility is that your Torrent file is out of date, because the Item has moved to a new server, and your client does not support redirection of our canonical webseeding URL (and no tracked or discoverable peers are seeding the Torrent).

In this case, the problem can be solved by re-downloading the Torrent file.

How do I tell if a Torrent is being seeded?

Current seed and leech counts are displayed for each Archive Torrent on the relevant Item details pages, in parenthesis next to the Torrent link. These values are cached for five minutes or so, and because clients do not always update our trackers regularly, they may be somewhat out of date.

The number of seeders is shown first, and the number of leechers (downloaders without the complete Torrent) second. The seeder number includes 'webseeds,' however, which are only usable by BitTorrent clients that support Getright-style webseeding.

Retrieval of Torrents is not the best solution for uploading unless you already have an existing mechanism for creating and seeding Torrents.

This capability is not intended as an alternative to our uploader. It merely enables the Archive to capture material already being distributed via BitTorrent.

Torrent retrieval by the Archive works like this:

If a valid .torrent file is uploaded (e.g. through our Uploader) into an item, when that item is derived, we will instantiate a BitTorrent client (Transmission) and attempt to retrieve the Torrent. If the Torrent is successfully retrieved, its contents will be added to the item. 'Valid' in this case means, well-formed and seeded.

Our client will attempt to scrape any listed trackers to find seeding peers, but will also attempt to find peers via DHT and can fall back on Getright-style webseeding when possible.

The Torrent file itself is leeched only long enough to retrieve the file; we do not seed the Torrent after retrieval.

However, all items contents, including those retrieved through this method, are made available via the item's own Archive Torrent. (Because it contains additional contents, this Archive Torrent will, alas, have a different infohash from the original Torrent. So uploading a Torrent to the Archive does not make us a seeder of it.)

Bonus feature: if you have only a magnet link, and not a Torrent file, you can create a dummy .torrent file by pasting that magnet link into a text file and naming it foo.torrent.

If you upload this dummy Torrent file, we'll detect that you gave us a magnet link and take care of the rest.

How is the Internet Archive using BitTorrent?

Downloading Internet Archive Content

As of summer 2012, the Internet Archive is beta-testing the distribution of our public collections via the BitTorrent protocol (as a supplement to traditional HTTP download).

Currently over 1.4 million Archive Items are available via the BitTorrent protocol, comprising almost a petabyte of public domain materials.

Starting in 2011, the Internet Archive began automatically retrieving BitTorrent files uploaded into most Community collections.

Uploading a Torrent provides a convenient way to upload many files or large contents, provided seeds (including webseeds) are available for the Torrent.

How to prevent an Archive Torrent from being made

Internet Archive BitTorrents are automatically made for community-contributed items in many collections, and automatically updated when item contents or metadata change.

If you prefer that your item not have an Archive Torrent made for it; or that items within a collection you maintain do not, you can prevent Torrents from being made by including the following metadata tag in your item:

noarchivetorrent=true

Note: adding this tag does not remove existing Torrents, those must be removed using the Item Manager item file management tool.

For instructions on how to edit an item or collection's metadata, see the FAQ Uploading Content.

Why is the Torrent link for an Item lined out (Torrent)?

While an Item is being updated, its Torrent link is temporarily disabled and shown as Torrent.

Changes to an item usually render any existing Archive BitTorrent for it obsolete. Attempts to download obsolete Archive Torrents will usually fail, as described here: My Torrent download never completes?. (Technically, the problem is that when files within an Item change, they can no longer download correctly via webseeding because the piece hashes for updated files change).

The Torrent link will return to normal when the Item finishes updating and the torrent is updated. The Torrent link may be unavailable for a few minutes or a few hours depending on the size of the Item and how busy the Archive processing cluster is (in very rare cases, it might be disabled for a day or more).

Note: obsolete torrents will continue to be tracked by Archive trackers for some time, but will only be retrievable when seeded by peers who have downloaded the referenced version of the item.

What are peers, seeds, leechers, and snatches?

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol facilitated by centralized trackers. The Internet Archive runs several BitTorrent trackers to allow for peer discovery.

Archive trackers track (but do not log or otherwise record) which peers have pieces of which Torrents; real-time statistics are summarized on tracker hotlists for each of our Trackers.

Internet Archive tracker statistics of interest include:

Peers: the total number of clients known by the tracker to have pieces of a Torrent, i.e. the sum of seeds and leechers.

Seeds: the number of clients known by the tracker to have all of the pieces of a Torrent available, i.e. those which have downloaded the entire Torrent but remain online.

Leechers: the number of clients known by the tracker to have some of the pieces of a Torrent available, i.e. those currently downloading the Torrent.

Snatches: the number of clients known by the tracker to have downloaded a given Torrent, but which are not currently seeding it.

Note: Internet Archive seeder and peer counts include webseeds; these seeds are available only when using clients that support Getright-style webseeding.

Accounts Information

Bookmarks are now referred to as "Favorites". To Favorite an item click the star icon that is in the top right area of an item details page to the right of the player.

What is the "Summary of " link above the graph on the calendar page telling me?

It shows you the breakdown of the web captures for a given domain by content type (text, images, videos, PDFs, etc.) In addition, it shows the number of captures, URLs and new URLs, by year for all the years available via the Wayback Machine, so you can see how a certain site has changed over time.

How do I create an account?

You can create a new account at the Create An Account page. Once you create an account you should receive a verification email (please check you spam/trash filed if you do not see it in your inbox). If responding to the verification email fails to activate your account please let us know by emailing to info@archive.org.

Can I find sites by searching for word specific to that site?

Yes, by adding in "site:" your results will be restricted to the specified domain. E.g. “site:gov clinton” will search for sites related to the term “clinton” in the domain “gov”.

How do I retrieve my password?

On the login page you can click the "Forgot password?" link or go directly to

Where is my account information?

Follow this clickpath:
Click your screen name in the top black navigation bar > click "My Library" in the drop down menu > click "Settings" in the upper right.

How can I change my account information?

Follow this clickpath:
Click your screen name in the top black navigation bar > click "My Library" in the drop down menu > click "Settings" in the upper right > under "Account Settings" enter your password and click "Change Account Settings".

Note: deleting your account will NOT remove any pages you created on the site. To do that you would need to send a request to info@archive.org.

If I delete my account will all my uploads be deleted?

No. Deleting your account will NOT remove any pages you created on the site. To do that you would need to send a request to info@archive.org. Please send it from the account email address if possible. Otherwise, please offer an explanation as to how we might verify that this is/was your account.

I changed my email address and now I cannot access my items?

To have existing items associated with a new account email address please email us at info@archive.org. Please include your previous email and the new email addresses.

How do I add an avatar image to my account page?

Simply drag an image over or mouseover the icon on your "My Library" page > click "Submit > wait for tasks to run and then refresh the page

Simply drag an image over or mouseover the icon on your "My Favorites" page > click "Submit > wait for tasks to run and then refresh the page

I changed my user name but the identifier of my account page did not change?

The identifier of your account page is permanently established when you create your account. It will not change even if you change your screen name.

If I change my screen name will it change on my reviews and forums posts as well?

No. They will retain the screen name you had when you wrote the reviews and/or posts.

Why is my account locked?

Accounts may be locked for a variety of reasons including violating the Terms of Use.

Why did my login fail?

If your login in fails please be sure:
1. You are using the email address of the account rather than your screen name.
2. You keyed in the email exactly as originally used to create the account. The login is case sensitive. Check to be sure your Caps Lock is not engaged.
3. If you believe you may not have the correct password you may click the "Forget password?" link to have email sent to you with instructions to create a new password.

Navigation

How can I remove a favorite?

Use this clickpath:
Click the "My Favorites" link in the black bar at the top of the site > click "Remove items" in the upper right of the page > use the red "X" on each item to remove it > Click "Remove items" again to turn off the functionality.

Where is the upload button?

The upload icon (the up arrow) is located in black top navigation bar on the right side.

Bookmarks are now called favorites. To find them use this clickpath:
click your screen name in the black top navigation bar > select "My Favorites"

Where are forums?

Use these clickpaths:
• On a collection page click the "Forum" tab (example:archive.org/details/americana&tab=about)
• The 50 most recent forum post on the entire site: archive.org/iathreads/posts-display-new.php?limit=50
• A list of all forums is at archive.org/iathreads/forums.php

Where is a collection's full description?

On a collection page either click "More" at the bottom of the description summary or, click the "About" tab

Where are the 'most recent uploads'?

This feature is limited to the top media types. Use this clickpath:
Click a mediatype (texts, audio, movies, software) icon in the black top navigation bar > click the "This Just In" link under "Featured" (Example)

Live Music Archive

Can I upload live recordings that were broadcast on XM Radio or Sirius Satellite Radio?

At this point in time, Archive.org cannot host recordings that were broadcast over either of these services. Subscribers have informed us that they were required to sign a "Terms of Use" document that forbids the recording/hosting/rebroadcasting of any material received from these services. Until we hear otherwise, these recordings cannot be hosted here.

A recording I uploaded and marked 'no lossy formats' had them created (mp3, ogg, m3u, etc...) . How can I remove them?

If you come across this situation and you are the uploader, click [edit], select the derivation option you prefer, and then 'Update'. You should see the message "Format Options Updated Successfully". Within 10 minutes the system will create a "_rules.conf" file in the recording's folder. Then, the next time the system performs an automatic sweep looking for changes, it will notice the new rules file and remove the lossy files automatically. The sweep occurs approximately twice a day, so you should see the files removed within 12-24 hours.

If you are not the uploader, send us an email (etree at archive dot org) and an admin will remove them.

How do I search for an artist by date of the concerts?

As an example I'll search for Del McCoury:
start at https://archive.org/details/etree
type "Del McCoury in the "Search this Collection" text field on the right side and hit return.
I prefer list view so I click the icon (the four stacked horizontal lines) all the way on the right side of the "SORT BY" bar. And, I check the "SHOW DETAILS" box to show more information.
Now I've got results for Del McCoury in the Live Music Archive at https://archive.org/details/etree?&and[]=Del%20McCoury
Now click the "DATE PUBLISHED" link in the "SORT BY" bar above the results. Now I've got them sorted by concert date from newest to oldest at https://archive.org/details/etree?and[]=Del+McCoury&sort=-date
To reverse the order click the Up/Down arrows just to the left of the words "SORT BY in the "SORT BY" bar. Now they concert dates are from oldest to newest at https://archive.org/details/etree?and[]=Del+McCoury&sort=date

Why is a .txt file required?

The .txt file is used by the LMA collection to populate metadata in the item, especially the titles of tracks in the playlist. Please be sure it is a .txt file and not another text format.

Should I upload checksum files like MD5 or ftp?

We no longer require nor desire checksum or fingerprint files. Often they cause problems when files are changed in the item. Systems have improved to the point where we no longer see checksums as necessary to verify accurate upload/download.

Can I upload concert videos?

At this time, video uploads are not being accepted, namely because most of the bands archived prohibit the video taping of their shows. Moreover, unlike audio, where we actually have a shot at archiving the vast majority of any given band's live concerts (in very high quality format), video is scarce and, unless made by the artist (in which case, it's typically for commercial purposes), is not of particularly good quality.

There's no set list for this show, or, The set list does not match up with the number of files. Should I submit an error report?

There has been an increasing number of shows uploaded to the Live Music collection without set list information, or the set list was not properly matched to the files. When you notice a recording like this, please email us (etree at this domain) only if you have an updated set list, or you are able to match the files up correctly.

We would prefer that you do not submit error reports letting us know that there is no set list - tracking down set lists for every concert and matching them up to the recordings is a monumental task that has grown beyond the capabilities of the small group of Archive.org admins. We would like fans that are familiar with each artist's material to help us with this project - in your email, please give us specific instructions on what changes to make and we will do so.

I'm an artist who would like to be included in the Archive, what do I need to do?

We'd love to have you! Just write to us at etree at archive dot org in English giving some kind of permission for us to archive your shows for public download and noncommercial, royalty-free circulation. It does not need to be a formally worded declaration, and can come from anyone you feel has the "say-so." We just need to be clear on how you feel about the project. We will put relevant quotes onto a new "collection" page (examples) for your performances, along with a link to your official website.

It is necessary for you to email us at etree at archive dot org in order to create a new section. We want to be sure that the go-ahead really is coming from you. Please do not attempt to create your own collection, or to upload any of the band's shows, in advance of receiving an emailed confirmation message from curators; such attempts may significantly complicate or delay the curators' setup process.

You can give as much or as little scope for archiving as you like. Some bands place limits on what can be hosted, and we can accommodate those. Archive Curators, volunteer fans who have proven to be in line with the spirit of this archive, will attempt to screen contributions for OK'ed material only.

At the same time you give the go-ahead, feel free to pass along any notes or policy links on your general taping/trading stance as well. You don't need to have a formal written or posted policy before inclusion, but we'd like to know how you feel about the topic.

Besides fans sending their copies of your shows, you can also prepare and upload your own live recordings to the Archive, if you like. In fact, if you'd like to limit your material to selected contributions from you only, please just let us know.

If you have any questions about the project, please ask us anytime at etree at archive dot org.

I have a different source for a show that is already in the archive, should I upload it anyway?

Yes! In keeping with the nature of this Archive, it is appropriate for multiple sources of the same show to be available for download. When you upload the new source, be sure to name the source in the show's top level folder to avoid confusion. Some bands do place limits on the types of sources allowed (such as soundboard recordings), so please check the policy for any given band.

The progress of my upload says 'File metadata XML invalid. Waiting for user to correct.' How can I fix this?

This is typically caused by illegal symbols being used somewhere in the information that was put into one of the forms submitted with the show (either the import form or "File Options"). Double check that the only characters used are those visible on a standard English-language 104 key keyboard. More information and a few examples are here.

If you have trouble finding the cause, please post to the forum for help. An admin will have to resubmit the recording for another try, so please send an email including a link to the recording to etree AT archive DOT org if you believe you have cleared the issue.

Yes. Each band can tailor the extent of their permission to the Archive. We quote the band's wishes in the Rights section of the band's Collection page. Here are some examples of special restrictions bands have requested. We point out different cases in a band's policy information using a shorthand "Limited Flag" tag.

We have a contribution system set up to accommodate individual bands' requirements. During the upload process, contributors are urged to double check the band's policy notes at different stages. Archive Curators, volunteer fans who have proven to be in line with the spirit of this archive, will attempt to screen contributions for approved material only. In addition, access to a particular item can be removed if it becomes restricted later (for example, a date newly chosen for commercial release must be removed under some band's policies).

Bands, please contact us at etree at archive dot org anytime to let us know how we can work with you to make things happen.

Do you provide an RSS feed of new updates to the LMA?

Indeed! The URL of the feed is http://www.archive.org/services/collection-rss.php?mediatype=etree&collection=etree
You can plug this into a front end like AmphetaDesk (available at: http://www.amphetadesk.com)

What does the 'Transferred by' field mean?

This field indicates the person who did the original DAT/MD/Cassette to WAV conversion. Also, note that in the case of recordings made directly to laptops there is no transfer.

Regarding removing the lossy files ... I edited my show, checked the box to remove them and clicked update. Now when I click update again, the box is still not checked. Why?

Where can I find other recordings by [trade-friendly band] that aren't in the collection?

If the artist is OK with Internet trading, you may be able to find downloadable recordings through http://bt.etree.org. Also, check http://db.etree.org to find people who have copies of shows and who may be willing to trade. Etree.org has additional trading forums at http://forums.etree.org Lastly, you can check out a band's own fan forums and mailing lists. Good luck!

In contrast, the Live Music Archive forum at the Internet Archive is not a good place to post about trades, or to ask for shows that are not yet archived here, whether or not the band presently has a section here. Moderators may delete these posts. More posting etiquette tips for that forum are here.

What are the options for streaming a full recording?

Hi-Fi: An MP3 playlist, readable by most players, that has the addresses of MP3 files encoded with a variable bit rate.

Lo-Fi: An MP3 playlist, readable by most players, that has the addresses of MP3 files encoded with at a constant bit rate of 64 kilobits per second. These files are ideal for users with slower Internet connections.

What file formats are accepted for contributions to the Live Music Archive?

Currently, the Live Music Archive will only accept lossless audio files in these formats: flac, aiff, wav or shn.

Do not upload the lossy files (MP3 or OGG) next to your lossless format files. The derive task creates those automatically, provided that the contributor agrees to having them available. This ensures that all the files here have uniform quality options selected.

Please follow etree.org's Seeding Guidelines when preparing your contributions for addition to the collection. Pay particular attention to the Naming Standards section. A well-named identifier helps patrons find your show in our large collection. A well-named set of files allows files to be listed in the proper order at the site, and allows patrons to listen to them in playlists and burn them to CD in the proper order, too.

I like adding concerts. Do you have a preference on the way I put in information?

Yes, here are some guidelines that will help us maintain good records for each concert.

Do not include HTML in the source and lineage fields.

Do not repeat information in the notes fields (such as source information, or number of discs). Only include information in the notes fields that is not already in any other field.

If at all possible, keep absolutely nothing but song names in the set list (even things like disc splits, set splits, etc. should not be in this field). If possible, putting all song names on one line, separated by commas is wonderful.

Do not fill in unknown field with questions marks or N/A - just leave them blank. The exception to this guideline is the venue, set list and source fields (which are mandatory) - in the event that this information is not known, simply write "unknown".

Once again, thank you so much!

Where can I see the rest of the 'Most Downloaded Items' in the Live Music Archive?

Feel free to email etree@archive.org with any questions, and we'll do our best to post the answers here as soon as possible. Also, the message board is a great resource; with so many helpful, knowledgeable folks out there, you can often get a speedy answer to your question.

How can I add a logo to my collection page?

Yes. Follow this clickpath:
drag and image over the existing one next tot he band name > click the submit button > wiat for the tasks to complete > refresh the page.

These image formats will work: jpg, png or gif

The image you upload should be named identifier (where identifier is your item's identifier name) followed by the format. So, identifier.jpg, identifier.png or identifier.gif will work.

Next, be sure that you are logged in as an Internet Archive member. Have the fileset on your computer already, correctly prepared and correctly named. Files must be in lossless format (.flac or .shn), from lossless parent source material; we will optionally create the extra "lossy derivative" copies (.mp3, .ogg) onsite.

How are view (download) counts calculated?

Views (formerly known as downloads) are calculated per item page, per IP address, per day. If you stream a show today, that's one download. If you view the txt file tomorrow, that's another download. If you download every file from a show's page the next day, that counts as one more download. If you download the same file a thousand times the day after that, that still only counts as one more download.

What is the Live Music Archive all about?

This audio archive is an online public library of live recordings available for royalty-free, no-cost public downloads. We only host material by trade-friendly artists: those who like the idea of noncommercial distribution of some or all of their live material. Live recordings are a part of our culture and might be lost in 100 years if they're not archived. We think music matters and want to preserve it for future generations.

The LMA draws strength from the members of etree.org and other online communities of music fans devoted to providing public access to high-quality digital recordings of tradable performances. Typically, recordings are made by the fans. Recordings are preserved in "Lossless" archival compression formats such as Shorten or FLAC (MP3 is not Lossless) for highest quality preservation.

Patrons may download from the LMA with the understanding that the artists still hold their copyrights. All material is strictly noncommercial, both for access here and for any further distribution.

What are the options for downloading a full recording?

Lossless: A ZIP file containing Shorten files or Flac files. Unlike formats like MP3, lossless formats are true to the original - there is no degradation in quality.

Hi-Fi: A ZIP file containing MP3 files encoded with a variable bit rate to deliver high quality at roughly 160kilobits per second.

Lo-Fi: A ZIP file containing MP3 files encoded at a constant bit rate of 64 kilobits per second. These files are ideal for users with slower Internet connections.

Other Web Options: All files are displayed as individual links on any item's details page. Web-based download managers can be set up to download all the files you want from the page, as a group. For Firefox, the extension DownThemAll is a popular option.

BitTorrent: Some Items that are downloadable via HTTP are also downloadable via a BitTorrent client; these items show a 'Torrent' link next to the 'HTTP' download link. (To trigger creation of a BitTorrent file for an item in the LMA that does not yet have one, write a review for it, e.g. "Make me a Torrent!"). Note: only items downloadable via HTTP can be downloaded via BitTorrent.

How can I help get bands into the Live Music Archive?

If you know of a trade-friendly live-performing band that is a good candidate for the Archive, you can initiate contact. Some tips and letter templates can be found here. When you write, make it clear you are asking about the Live Music Archive at archive.org. Don't just ask about their general taping/trading stance. We want bands to know what's up.

Next, follow up with a message to etree at archive dot org. Mention when you tried to contact the band and what contact point you used. These are important in order to update our contact records. Admins will update the contact status in an announcement forum about Pending Bands based on the message you send us.

If you receive a reply from the band, positive ornegative, send a complete copy of the email, complete with its sender's address/brief header info, to etree at archive dot org. It's a good idea to send a copy of what you asked them as well (if not quoted in the reply), since it will give context to the answer. We need to have full info in hand in order to set up the band appropriately in the Archive, and we may need to contact them for follow up questions.

If you are hesitant to make contact yourself, you can mention the band to Archive admins (send email to etree at archive dot org) and they can try a contact as time permits. To help out, supply any contact or policy info you may already know about the band.

How do I make corrections to shows?

Sometimes people make typos or other mistakes on uploads, or leave gaps in info that can be filled in later. You can help supply good information for archived items. Here is the current best method to submit corrections:

If you uploaded the show, you can make the changes to the details page yourself. Make sure you are logged in as the user who uploaded the show and go to the details page of the show you are trying edit. Click on the "edit" link next to the band name at the top of the details page and you will be able to edit the show details including venue, location, source, set list, etc. Be aware that editing these fields will only change the show details, not the files themselves.

If you uploaded the item and would like to replace or add to files within your item, under the current system this can be done without reuploading the entire fileset. More description may follow; meanwhile there is a walkthrough as a Word document with screenshots.

If you did not upload the show, please email the admins (etree at archive dot org), and state precisely what the problem with that particular show is. If the problem is a missing set list, please see this FAQ). If there are one or more missing or broken files that you can provide, please re-upload and re-import the entire show under a new directory name, and then email us a link to the old, broken show, asking for that show to be removed.

Movies

How do I specify an HD derive?

At this time we do not derive HD files. HD files need to be derived by our system for the HD button to appear in the player.

How do I embed a movie?

Click the "Share" icon near the player. A popup window will offer URLs for embedding. For more advance options click the "Advanced embedding details, examples, and help!" link at the bottom of the popup.

Should I use the html5 or Flash player?

The html5 audio player is the default player. Some browsers may prefer to use Flash. Clicking the "lightning bolt" icon on the right side of the player will with it to a Flash based player.

How can I link to a start in the middle of a movie?

To set a start time add ?start=XXX (where XXX is the start time calculated in seconds) to the end of the URL. At this time there is not a way to specify the end time.

Where is the hi-res file?

If a hi-res source file was uploaded it will be available in the DOWNLOAD OPTIONS section or by clicking SEE ALL.

What is an editable file?

An editable file is a file which can be downloaded and used in an editing program. The MPEG-4 are the highest bitrate versions we could do with the linux mpeg-2 to mpeg-4 conversion tools we use. These files can be read directly into FinalCut-Pro from Apple, and can be converted to mov using Quicktime-pro and read directly into iMovie from Apple.

Can I stream the movies?

There are several programs you can use to stream movies in the Archive. Because we allow users to upload video files in any format, the same player will not always work for every single file, so it's a good idea to have a couple of programs available that you can try. Also, some files simply can't be streamed. Usually, this happens when the program that created the video file uses a codec that our software doesn't understand. So if you click on a stream link and get an "unsupported media" sort of error, use the download links instead.

Here are some free players that might come in handy:

Quicktime
If you have Quicktime installed, many mp4 streaming movies will play right in your browser window just by clicking a stream (or download) link. Make sure you have the latest version so that you can play the widest array of files.

VLC Media Player
Open your VLC Media Player and go to File > Open Network Stream. Click the File tab and enter the download link of the file you want to watch. Yes, this seems backward, but it works!

So, if you were trying to stream the movie Duck and Cover found at http://www.archive.org/details/DuckandC1951 you would:
Use this URL: http://www.archive.org/download/DuckandC1951/DuckandC1951_256kb.mp4

VLC will stream mp4, avi, mpg and other file formats, so it is quite useful for viewing the majority of the files in the archive.

We support two bitrates: 32Kbps-192Kbps for modem and ISDN users plus 256Kbps-450Kbps for DSL and cable-modem users.

My movie doesn't start fast or buffers a lot?

The in browser player typically uses an mp4 file. Most encoding (codecs) that are used do not add a "fast start atom" to the file to get it to start without the file having to load. If you are uploading an mp4 it is best to use .mpeg4 rather than .mp4 as the extension in the file name. That way our system will create an mp4 with the fast start atom.

Sometimes when I play a movie, the video is choppy or very pixelated. Why is that?

Try downloading the movie to your computer and watching it locally. Sometimes choppiness occurs when we can't stream it to you quickly enough (because your connection is slow or our servers are overloaded).

If you're watching an MPEG-4 that we derived from an original MPEG-2, we first reduce its size to 320 x 240 - a quarter of the resolution of NTSC video. We then translate it at 350 kbps, which is really borderline for that resolution. You see errors occasionally because there simply isn't enough bandwidth available, so the MPEG-4 encoder either drops frames - resulting in jerky or choppy motion - or drops macro blocks - resulting in blurred or pixelated video. That is the price we pay for the small file size - 80 MB for a 1/2-hour clip is really very small in the digital video world. If this is the case, download the original MPEG-2 to solve the problem.

Why do I get errors when I try to play a movie?

The best all-around, free player is VLC Media Player - it handles most of the movie files you will find on this site. If you're seeing errors when you try to play movies, please try downloading VLC and using that instead. This clears up many people's problems.

Here are some other possible problems:

There is heavy traffic to our site. If you experience a delay, please try again later or at a different time of day.

You're behind a firewall and the firewall software is attempting to modify incoming bits. Contact your network or firewall administrator.

Your Internet connection went down or timed out. Check with your ISP or network administrator to see if there's a special policy about keeping a connection live.

If your browser seems to hang after a "100% downloaded" message, check to see that you have sufficient hard-disk and TMP disk space. Rebooting the system sometimes helps.

You are trying to play an MPEG-2 file on a platform other than Windows or Linux. At present, you need VLC ( http://www.videolan.org ) or the for-pay quicktime6 add-on to play MPEG-2 files on the Macintosh. Please contact us at info at archive dot org if you have information about other players that work on platforms other than Windows.

Your player tried to stream the movie, and it isn't streamable. Download the movie first, and then play it. (Right-click > Save As)

Some conflict exists between your computer's configuration and the player you're using. Unfortunately, because PCs can be set up in so many different ways and because different standards exist for playing video, finding a player that will work is a hit-and-miss process. Try Rod Hewitt's evaluations of a number of players.

Many of the movies and collections are licensed with Creative Commons Licenses. Uploaders may designate whether or not an item has a CC License. If they do so, the Creative Commons logo will appear on the left hand side of the movie's detail page. Click on this logo to see details about the specific type of license that the uploader has assigned to the movie. Archive.org cannot guarantee the accuracy of uploader-provided information.

Some films may have the contact information listed for the filmmaker. If the information is provided, feel free to contact the filmmaker or organization the film comes from.

What movies can I upload?

You may upload movies that you own the copyright to, or that are in the public domain.

We are not copyright lawyers, and copyright is a tricky business, so you may want to consult a copyright researcher to clear material before you use it. You may also want to check this list of movies that one of our volunteers has already researched.

Here is some general information on the subject that may help you decide if your movie is okay to upload. The information below applies to films produced in the United States only.

1) Is there a copyright notice visible in the film? It is usually visible with the title or at the end of the film.

If the work was made in 1923 or earlier, it is probably public domain and can be uploaded. NOTE! Restored versions of the film or new soundtracks for silent films can have more recent copyrights that are still valid - usually a copyright notice for a new soundtrack or restoration will appear in the film.

For works made from 1923 to 1949, post a question to the movie forum on this site before you upload. The copyright could have been renewed and there isn't a way online to check a film's copyright status.

For works made from 1950 to 1963, you can check the title at the Library of Congress Copyright Database for copyright renewals: http://www.copyright.gov/records/cohm.html . This will list copyright renewals for most films.

If the copyright notice is 1964 or later, the copyright is probably still valid and the film should not be uploaded unless you are the copyright holder.

2) Is the copyright notice in the correct format? It needs to state three things - the word 'copyright' or the copyright symbol or '(c)', the year and who owns the copyright? If it is missing one of those elements or if there is no notice, it could be public domain. If you aren't sure, please post a question to the movie forum on this site.

3) Is the film foreign (not from the U.S.)? Foreign titles might not have a copyright notice, but still may be copyrighted in their country of origin. Traditionally the U.S. wouldn't recognize the copyright of a foreign film unless it was registered in the U.S. That has recently changed with the GATT treaty. Many foreign works had their copyrights restored. Please post a question to the movie forum on this site about these films before you upload.

What kind of movie file should I submit?

The archive is all about free access to information, so you should submit file formats that are easily downloadable and/or streamable for other site patrons.

We prefer that you submit the highest quality format that you have available, and then we will attempt to create smaller file sizes and formats automatically with our deriver program. MPEG2 files are the easiest file type for us to deal with. We recommend that you do not attempt to do any special encoding of your files - the more settings you mess around with, the less likely our deriver code will be able to process the file.

Whatever format you choose, please upload each file to your item individually, in a non-compressed format. Uploading content in a .zip or .rar file makes your item unstreamable and significantly less accessible to others. If you upload .zip, .rar, non-video formats (like .exe), or password-protected files, they may be removed by our moderators.

The table on the Derivative Formats page shown below describes what file formats we will attempt to derive depending on what type of file you submit.

You can upload a properly formatted .srt file for closed captioning. The file should be named IDENTIFIER.srt. If you have more than one language add the language to the file name e.g. IDENTIFIER_english.srt

Are there thumbnail images?

Yes. Once the video is started and file has sufficiently loaded you can see thumbnails by mousing over the playbar. They should pop up above the playbar.

Collections

How do I create a collection?

Collections can only be created for you by Internet Archive admins.

Because we receive so many requests for collections it is our policy to only build a collection for users who have a minimum of 50 items (an item is a web page) created on archive.org that are related and of the same mediatype. Once you have reached this threshold, please contact us and we would be happy to build a collection for your items. Until you have a collection your items will remain in a public opensource collection.

To create a collection we would need:
• The email address(es) of the account(s) that uploaded the content
• A list of the item links or a search query which will identify your items
• The name and a brief description (to be used on your collection page) of your organization and/or the material housed in the collection.
• A suggested identifier for the collection page (please use meaningful words and it should be 5-80 characters, letters and numbers only, no spaces or special characters)
• At least one Subject tag that describes the collection
• (optional) The logo you would like to display in the upper right hand corner of the collection page and items. Best if it is at least 500p x 500p or, at least 500px wide or high.
• The archive.org account email address(es) that you would like to have administrative privileges for this collection (these addresses will be able to upload directly to the collection as well as edit information about the collection).

Once your collection is created any existing items will be moved to it and you will have admin priviledges to upload to it.

Collection requests should be sent to info@archive.org.

How do I add an image/logo to my collection page?

If you have an existing collection you can add or change the images on the collection page by dragging an image over the existing image to the left of the title or mouser the existing image and use "Select" to choose a file. Click "Submit", wait for the tasks to complete and refresh the page.

Why can't I add my item to any collection?

Except for the public collections (Community Texts, Community Audio, Community Video, Community Media) all collections are restricted to the uploader of the items in that collection. Internet Archive has also created some restricted collections. If you feel your item belongs in one of those collections contact us with your request to move it. Please include the URL of the item page.

Can I add admins to my collection?

Yes. Collections can have multiple admins. To add an admin please send us the email address of the archive.org account that you wish to be added. (Note: admins have editing privileges to all items in a collection regardless as to whether they uploaded it or not so please add admix with that in mind.)

Where are sub collections/related collections?

Sub-collections - when a collection has sub-collections you can find them by clicking the "collections" facet link in the right hand column

Related Collections - when a collection has related collections they are listed on the right in the "About" tab on the collection page

Why is my item is not appearing in my collection?

Typically there are two reasons for this:
1. The item was unintentionally uploaded to a Community collection
2. The item is not yet in the search engine. All item creation task need to run before it will be indexed. Indexing takes about 20 minutes once the tasks are complete. You can click the "History" link on the item page to check the status of the tasks.
If all else fails please contact us rather than re-uploading. We can usually solve the problem.

How do I move an item into my collection?

Only Internet Archive admins can move items to other collections. Please contact us at info@archive.org. Please include the URL of the item to move and the collection to where it should be moved.

Downloading Content

How can I create an RSS feed?

RSS feed URLs can be crafted using an advanced search query:
1. Create a search query that returns only the items you want to be in the feed
2. On the results page click "Advanced Search" neat the top of the page
3. In the advanced search form in the "Advanced Search returning JSON, XML, and more" section select "RSS format:" and click the "Search" button.
4. The URL of the returned RSS feed page can be used for your feed.

Why can't I download "Stream Only" files?

These files are restricted to online use only and are not downloadable.

How do I bulk download?

At this time there are two methods to do bulk downloading. Both require some comfort working in a unix environment:wget - please see http://blog.archive.org/2012/04/26/downloading-in-bulk-using-wget for guidancepython wrapper - the Internet Archive has created a python wrapper useful for many functions including bulk download. It can be found at https://github.com/jjjake/internetarchive

How do I download just one file?

Start on the item's details page. Use this clickpath:
Show All (in the Download Options section) > right-click or control-click on the link to the file to download > in the pop-up choose the "Save link as" option > Save file to your device

How do I download all the files in just one format?

Start on the item's details page. In the "Download Options" click the format you want to download. If there are multiple files in that format you will be prompted to download a zip file containing all the files in that format. If there is only one file in that format it will either open in your browser (a pdf for example) or download if it is a format that does not render in your browser (such as epub).

How do I download all the source/original files and metadata

Start on the item's details page. In the "Download Options" click the "[number] Originals" link in the lower right side. You will be prompted to download a zip file containing all the original files

How do I download all the files in an item?

Start on the item's details page. In the "Download Options" click the "[number] Files" link in the lower right side. You will be prompted to download a zip file containing all the original files

What are all the derived file formats for?

Generally speaking there are three categories:Data files - for use by various devices for experiencing the media whether it is a book, audio file, movie, etc. Metadata files - such as xml allow the item page to function on the siteResearch files - such as spectrogram, fingerprint or checksum files

This page shows the files typically derived from the uploaded source files. (Note: The system will not derive a file format that is a duplicate of the source file uploaded. So if an mp3 is uploaded the system will not derive an mp3 from it.)

Why can't I download/view this book?

Due to rights issues some books may only be available in DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) format. This format is specifically for text to audio devices for the print-disabled community. for more information on DAISY see https://archive.org/help/derivatives.php

The Internet Arcade

How is it Playing Arcade Games in my Browser?

The Internet Arcade uses a program called JSMESS, which is a Javascript port of the MESS and MAME emulator projects. MESS/MAME have been developed over nearly 20 years and are able to emulate hundreds of computer systems and thousands of console and arcade games. A volunteer group has been able to convert MESS/MAME into pure Javascript and make it run in most modern browsers.

What is the Internet Arcade?

The Internet Arcade is a collection of emulated arcade games from the 1970s-1990s that can be played in your browser. It is located here. There are similar collections of playable console games (the Console Living Room) and general computer software (the Software Library).

What Plugins are Needed?

There are no plugins needed to run the Internet Arcade. It uses 100% Javascript (not to be confused with Java), which is a scripting module inside all modern browsers that has great flexibility for running code, playing sound and video, and doing everything necessary to provide an arcade game in a window.
Ironically, if the system is not working for you, a plugin may be preventing it: there are a number of plugins, such as NoScript, which automatically turn off Javascript processing for a site and require you to turn it back to run. If that is the case, the Arcade will not function - please enable Javascript on archive.org to run the Arcade.

How do I Play a Game on the Arcade?:

In each entry for a game on the Arcade, you are taken to a page with a description of the game, and a screenshot in the right-hand corner of the gameplay. A line underneath the screenshot says "Run an in-browser emulation of the program". You can click on the screenshot or the word "Run" to go to the Player page.
On the Player page, you are shown a box and underneath it controls for Fullscreen, Mute/Unmute, Dark Background, and possibly others. Inside the box, there should be a MAME or MESS logo. Clicking inside this box, or hitting the spacebar, should start a disk icon spinning and the program will load.
When the program is finished loading, the disk icon will stop spinning and the box will expand out to the resolution of the given program. At this point, the arcade machine will begin running.
If you do not see the MESS/MAME logo, the program will not start. See other FAQ questions for possible solutions to this problem.

I Don't See Anything in the Box.

If you do not see a MAME/MESS logo in the box above the "Fullscreen, Dark Background, Mute" buttons on the player page, then JSMESS is not running in your browser for some reason. Some possible reasons to investigate:

Are you running a script blocker like NoScript, that blocks Javascript?

Does your browser have Javascript disabled?

JSMESS can take a few seconds to load - wait 30 seconds to see if the logo appears.

JSMESS generally runs in Firefox, Chrome, Opera, IE and Safari. Are you running a different browser than these?

Is your browser a recent version? JSMESS prefers browsers from the last few months (although it should run, albeit poorly, in earlier versions).

Are you low on memory? Disk space?

If none of these seem to apply, contact us with your setup and situation as you see it.

I Don't Hear Any Sound.

For reasons that we will explain, sound is muted by default on JSMESS. To enable sound, you (currently) need to start a program (i.e., click on the logo), wait for the arcade machine to start, and then hit the "Unmute" button at the bottom of the running game. This will set a cookie for "Unmute" and after you hit Refresh (F5) on your browser, all later games will have sound.
We are aware this is clunky, and intend to rewrite our Player to more intuitively work in the future.

The Sound Sounds Horrible/Scratchy/Distorted!

The JSMESS program uses a standard called "Web Audio" that is still in its early stages - as a result, the JSMESS program is extremely burdensome to this standard, and unless your machine is very fast and the arcade game being run a simpler one, the sound can easily distort, even when doing something like switching between tabs or moving the mouse! This is why the program is, by default, muted.
As of November, 2014, a new Web Audio specification has been proposed that allows Javascript programs like JSMESS to run audio more dependably, as we expect for sound and video, and the committees in charge of this specification are very aware of JSMESS as a real-world example of how to improve their specification. We currently can only wait, at which point newer versions of browsers will have much better sound.
Sometimes, a refresh/restart of the arcade player page will bring the sound back into shape, for at least a while.

Why did the Arcade Game start with All Sorts of Weird Graphics?

The JSMESS system provides an as-accurate-as-possible presentation of an arcade machine when it is powered on. A large amount of arcade machines had "boot-up" or "checksum" sequences, where they would show a variety of messages and graphics to indicate the state and quality of the machine. If a ROM chip failed, or a circuit had burned out, various error messages would show and the arcade machine owner or operator would have to do hardware repairs. This situation continues in the emulations, although the machines are generally not going to blow a fuse or lose hardware.
That said, there are a very small number of machines that will start up, and then sit at a cryptic operations message, or be awaiting a key. Where possible, the instructions underneath the game's video window will give information on what key or keys to press to have the game continue to boot up properly.

At the bottom it mentions a Gamepad. Do I need a Gamepad?

Every arcade game can be played using your keyboard; no gamepad or joysticks are needed. That said, it is possible under some circumstances to hook a USB Gamepad to your computer and have it recognized.

Uploading Content

What can I upload?

You may contribute content to the Internet Archive if it's in the public domain or if you own the rights to it. Please refer to the Terms of Use.

Please note that if you wish to be contacted with inquiries regarding your item, you'll need to supply public contact information. Some chose to provide a web address, mailing address, or other means of contact in the description text for the item.

How do I upload files?

1. Log in and click the upload icon in the top black navigation bar
2. Click the "Upload Files" button
3. Add files and complete the metadata form. Click the "Upload and Create Your Item" button
4. When the item creation tasks are complete you will automatically be redirected to your new item page.

How should I name my files?

Support for Filenames is limited to basic ASCII characters.
Please use only unaccented letters, numbers, dashes, underscores or periods. Do not use special characters

I need help choosing a license?

From the Creative Commons website: "Creative Commons licenses help you share your work but while keeping your copyright. Other people can copy and distribute your work, but only on certain conditions."

You can choose a license to associate with your contribution and this license will be linked to when users see the details page.

Why is there more than one type of upload page?

There are currently 3 in-browser options for uploading at archive.org/upload:The "Upload Files" button has several advantages:
1. Files larger than 2GB can be uploaded
2. More metadata options to make the item more complete and findable in search without having to edit the item once it is up
3. It is based on html5 so it does not require or use Flash
4. Automatically redirects to the item page once it is createdThe "Classic Uploader" button:
1. Uses Flash
2. Can only upload files that are less than 2GB
Live Music Archive button:
1. Required for all Live Music Archive uploads
2. Uses the "Classic Uploader" so it requires Flash
3. Workflow requires some metadata choices that are unique to the Live Music Archive

What is the "Test Collection" for?

We provide a Test Collection for uploading test items. There are two considerations for uploading to this collection:
1. The pages are not indexed in the search engine
2. The are removed from the site approximately every 30 days.

My upload failed. What do I do?

If you see the "Resume" button it indicates that the upload likely failed due to some network interruption. You may click the "Resume" button to continue uploading. It may take several tries. If it continually fails the only option is to refresh the page and start the upload again.

Where can I see all my uploads?

Use this clickpath from any page:
click your screename in the black top navigation bar > select "My Library"

The time before the item is has completed its task can range from a few seconds to a few hours and in some cases, days. It is dependent on a number of factors including the type and size of files as well as the load on the system. To check an item's history: on the /details/ page click the "History" link on the left side of the page next to the title.

Should I upload a MARC record file for a book?

A MARC record will populate an item as soon as the item derives if the MARC file is named correctly. If it's a binary (ISO 2709) MARC, it should be called {itemID}_meta.mrc, If it's MARCXML, it should be called {itemID}_marc.xml.

Is there a limit to what I can upload?

At this time there is no limit. Due to system architecture we recommend that item pages not exceed either 1000 files or 50GB.

Do you backup my files?

Yes. We duplicate/backup all files at various locations.

What upload apis do you offer?

For bulk or automated uploading we offer a python wrapper. It can be found at github.com/jjjake/internetarchive. It requires some comfort in a unix environment. If you wish to use this and need additional information please contact us at info@archive.org.

What kinds of formats do you want me to use for uploading?

We encourage users making contributions to the Archive to create as high
quality versions of their media as possible.

Most typical formats are acceptable. Please do not upload encrypted or executable files as these may be removed.

What are your fees?

At this time we have no fees for uploading and preserving materials. We estimate that permanent storage costs us approximately $2.00US per gigabyte. While there are no fees we always appreciate donations to offset these costs.

How long will you store it?

As an archive our intention is to store and make materials in perpetuity.

My item is missing?

There are several reasons you may not be able to locate items you created:
1. It is possible that items are not properly indexed.
2. Items that may violate our terms of use may result in items being removed from the site.
3. Claims by rights holders may result in items being removed from the site.

How can I take my files off the site?

If you would like us to take down an item you have posted, please send an email to info [AT] archive [DOT] org. Please include the exact URLs of the items. Your email must come from the same email address you used to upload the item.

Why can't I upload a meta.xml file?

The architecture of the system does not allow uploading of meta.xml files. Attempts to do so will encounter an error.

What languages are supported by Archive.org?

Archive.org supports all metadata about items in just about any language so long as the characters are UTF8 encoded.

How can I use accented or special characters in my title or description?

You can use accented and other special characters in your item text and file titles, but you need to make sure you use the xml-safe code for those characters instead of typing them directly into the forms.

Because items can "break" we typically recommend that you not exceed 1,000 files and/or 50GB per item page.

You can upload very large files, up to 100GB. However, large files that require deriving may take a very long time or even timeout and fail.

How do I add a file to an existing item

There are two ways. clickpath:
1. On the /details/ page click "Edit" > "change the files" > "Classic Uploader" button > elect files and click "Open" or "OK" > after the progress bar indicates that the files are uploaded click "Update Item" button. A new derive task should automatically start.
2. Using your item's identifier you can craft a URL that will let you use the html5 upload form. clickpath:
Use https://archive.org/upload?identifier=youridentifier > hit your return/enter key > drag file(s) into gray box or use button to select the file(s) > click "Add files to item" button. A new derive task should automatically start.

How do I prevent lossy formats from being derived

This is only possible for audio items.
Use this clickpath:
After your item is created click "Edit" link on the /details/ page > click "change the information > scroll to the bottom and select "Do not allow lossy* derivatives for files in this item" > go back to the /details/ click "Edit" > click "change the information" > click "Item Manager"> in the "Re-Derive" section select "all" > click the "derive" button. It will take some time for the item to rederive.

How should I name my files?

Support for Filenames is limited to basic ASCII characters.
Please use only unaccented letters, numbers, dashes, underscores or periods. Do not use special characters

Books and Texts

On the item details page click the expand icon (four arrows aiming out) to the right of the book preview image.

How do I view the PDF books?

Usually you can click the PDF link and it will open in your browser. Otherwise you should download the pdf file and read it on your device using a reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.

How do I read the books in other formats, like ePub, Mobi, DJVU?

• ePub is an open textual format (not images of pages). Many readers are available. A free one is from Adobe.
• Mobi is a proprietary textual format from Amazon supported on the Kindle.
• DjVu is an open format for scanned documents with free readers for windows, mac os-x, linux. It is compact, searchable, good looking, and open format.

Tips for uploading scanned books and other text documents.

• Scan individual pages rather than spreads.
• Pdf is easiest format to use for uploading books.
• Use hi-res files (we use 600 ppi).
Add _images.zip to uploaded zip files that contain images. png, jpg, jp2 and tif files are the accepted formats.
• For file names use only unaccented roman letters, numbers, dashes, underscores and spaces.
• Keep file names to under 100 characters.
• When uploading multiple books to a single page prepend the file names with numbers to force the list order you would like to see. e.g. use 01, 02, 03, etc.
• Always specify the language so OCR can run correctly. if there is more than one language additional metadata field for each additional language.
• Include as much metadata as possible such as date (published), creator (author), isbn and lccn numbers (add a metadata fields for these), description, subject tags, creative commons license, etc.
• For the "title" field use the title as it is shown on the title page of the book. That is how the system tries to choose the title page to display in the preview and in search results.
• If possible upload a MARC file along with your book file. Name is the same as the book file and, depending on the MARC file format, end with _marc.xml or _meta.mrc. For example, a book file named mybook.pdf would have a MARC file named mybook_marc.xml.
• Upload books to the Community Texts collection if you you do not have a private collection. If you feel the book should be in another collection please contact us at info@archive.org with that request. Collections can be created on request when you have created at least 50 item pages on archive.org.

I want to scan a book. What resolution should I scan at?

Hi-resolution originals are always preferred. We scan at 600dpi.

What file format should I upload?

A hi-res pdf is the easiest format to upload. To upload image files read the "How do I make a flip book out of loose images" section of this FAQ.

Can I upload a MARC record?

You can upload a MARC record with your text file. The MARC record will populate the item as soon as the item derives if the MARC file is named correctly. If it's a binary (ISO 2709) MARC, it should be called {itemID}_meta.mrc, If it's MARCXML, it should be called {itemID}_marc.xml.

Why is OCR so bad? Why do the epub, djvu, mobi, text files have garbled or missing text?

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is inexact. Sometimes it can be poor. It largely relies on factors of the physical book such as type font, color, cleanliness of the page, language (some are not OCRable at this time), and page orientation (sometimes charts are turned at 90°). At this time we do not offer a way for you to either correct bad OCR or add your own corrected OCR file. Several of the derived file formats such as mobi, epub and djvu rely on OCR. So, if the OCR is poor, those files will also have garbled or misspelled words.

My subject tags are lumped together. How do I fix that?

Because MARC records use commas and semi-colons archive.org text items do not honor those characters as a way to separate subject keywords. To separate them you need to create individual metadata key:value pairs for each subject. To do this in the upload form (archive.org/upload) add your first subject in the "Subject Tags*" field. For any additional subjects follow this clickpath:
Add additional metadata... (in the More Options cell) > in the left field key in "subject" (without quotes) > add your subject in the right field > repeat if there are more subjects

How do I change the title page in the flip book?

Our system attempts to detect the title page of a book. The basic criteria is dependent on OCR. It will try to choose the first page with large font size that best matches the title you used for the item page. If that fails it is somewhat random.

To change the title page follow these click paths:
On the item details page click SHOW ALL > right-click or control-click the scan data.xml file link and select "Save link as.... to download it > open the scandata.xml file in a plain text editing application > find "Title" and replace it with "Normal" >On the leaf you want to be the first page replace "Normal" with "Title" .

Now replace the existing file with this modified one by uploading it to the item using the URL scheme https://archive.org/upload?identifier=ID (where ID is the identifier of the item.)

Where are the hi-res images in an item?

All files for an item can be found on the ALL FILES page. For books scanned by the Internet Archive the largest compressed (tar or zip) file holds the original scans. You can usually download this file, expand it and use the images.

Where are the thumbnail images?

To view thumbnails click the expand icon (four arrows aiming out) to the right of the book preview. In the book reader click the thumbnails icon (four squares) at the bottom of the page.

On the item details page click the "Share" icon to the right of the book preview. A popup window will offer URLs for embedding. For more advance options click the "Advanced embedding details, examples, and help!" link at the bottom of the popup.

How do I report that something's wrong with a book?

Please send a description of the problem along with the URL of the page to info@archive.org. Thank you.
Please be aware that we typically do not modify the metadata of an item that has been created by a user of the site except at their request. We recommend leaving a review on the page explaining the issue. The uploader will automatically be notified.
For volume and serial work the publish date often appears to be incorrect. This is because the metadata is populated by a MARC record from one of our partner libraries such as the Library of Congress. At this time volume and serial works are considered to be a single work so there is a single MARC record for it. Typically the date that the first volume was publish is the only date in the record so that is the date that will appear on all volumes of the work regardless of the date that might be printed in a particular volume.

Open Library is an open project with the mission of having one web page for every book ever published. The software is open, the data are open, the documentation is open, and we welcome your contribution. Whether you fix a typo, add a book, or write a widget--it's all welcome. We have a small team of fantastic programmers who have accomplished a lot, but we can't do it alone!
There are no books on Open Library. There may be links to books that are housed on archive.org or links to where you might be able to find the book elsewhere.
There is also a lending program where you can borrow up to five books at a time for two weeks.
You may find answers to questions about on the Open Library FAQ page

How do I make a flip book out of loose images?

To make a flip book you need to upload a zip or tar that contains the files. Here's how:
1. Use only jpg, jpeg, jp2, tif, tiff, png, gif or bmp files. Any combination of them is acceptable.
2. Name your files sequentially. It is best to use the identifier in the name. For example:
000yourfilename.jpg
001yourfilename.jpg
002yourfilename.jpg
and so on
3. Create a zip or tar of the files and name that zip file using the page identifier e.g. yourfilename_images.zip or yourfilename_images.tar. If possible use a compression tool that does not add extra extraneous files. Sometimes the compression tool that comes with your computer does this (as with the Mac tool for example.) Terminal or Cygwin work well.
4. Upload the zip or tar file. Be sure to specify a language to help OCR. The system should do the rest.

Item page management

How can I add custom metadata to my item?

Use this clickpath from the item's details page:
Edit > change the information > at the bottom of the page click "Add another field" link > add the metadata key in the left text field and the value in the right field > click the "Submit" button at the bottom of the page.

You can only modify items that you created.

How do I delete, rename or upload files in an existing item?

Use this clickpath from the item's details page:
Edit > change the files > right-click or control-click the file > select Delete or Rename > if Renaming type a new name in the filename box > click OK > "Update Item"

You can also upload files to an existing item using this clickpath:
Edit > change the files > click the "Classic Uploader" button > select file(s) to upload and click "OK" > when the files are completely uploaded click "Update Item"

I can't edit an item I uploaded

There are two likely reasons for this:
1. The server where the item lives is temporarily in a read only state. Usually it is fixed and back to a read/write state in a day or less. One way to tell if this is the case is to click the "History" link on the item page. If the server id has a yellow stripe over it then that server is read only. Please be patient and check your item later.
2. You changed your account email address. If this is the case please contact us at info@archive.org. Include your old email, new email and we can move the old items to your current email address.

How do I report spam items or site abuse?

Please send email including the URL of the item page(s) and a description of the problem/error. Send it to info@archive.org.

What is an item and how do I create one?

For simplicity think of a page on the site as an "item". A special page that groups items is termed a collection. To create an item:
1. If you do not have an account please create an account.
2. Log in and click the upload icon in the top black navigation bar
3. Click the "Upload Files" button
4. Add files and complete the metadata form. Click the "Upload and Create Your Item" button
5. When the item creation tasks are complete you will automatically be redirected to your new item page.

How do I edit metadata of my item?

For existing items use this clickpath from the item's details page:
Edit > change the information > modify/add metadata as desired > click the "Submit" button at the bottom of the page.

You can only modify items that you created.

Questions

Rights

Can I use this ____ for ____ ?

Internet Archive does not itself seek to limit use of its digital materials. However, we cannot give ironclad guarantees as to the copyright status of items in our Collections and cannot guarantee information posted on item details or collection pages regarding copyright or other intellectual property rights. Our terms of use (https://www.archive.org/about/terms.php) require that users make use of Internet Archive's Collections at their own risk and ensure that such use is non-infringing and in accordance with all applicable laws.

The person who uploads an item often provides information related to use rights, either by way of directly entering it in the description field or by selection of a Creative Commons license. The latter, if included by the uploader, will be viewable via a Creative Commons logo on the details page, which serves as a link to a description of the specific type of license that the uploader has assigned.

One way to attempt to contact an uploader about information that they have posted is to post a review to the item.

A link the Terms of Use for Archive.org is at the bottom of each page.

How can I contact the person / group who uploaded an item?

Internet Archive is unable to release any contact information for patrons. However, it may be worth your while to post a review for the item in question - this automatically contacts the uploader's account, notifying them that their upload has been reviewed. You could pose queries/requests for information therein.

The first time you run Adobe Digital Editions, it will prompt you for authorization. This is completely optional and is not linked to your archive.org ID. If you do not want to set up an Adobe ID, check the box in the lower left where it says "I want to Authorize my computer without an ID" and click Authorize.

If you do want to set up an ID, click the "create an Adobe ID" link next to the eBook vendor line (which should remain set on "Adobe ID"). You can authorize your computer at a later date by going under the Help menu of ADE and selecting the "Authorize computer..." option.

What about using ereaders?

Regardless of which ereader you have, you can read archive.org eBooks online in your browser with our BookReader. Many devices support PDF files, which can be downloaded from archive.org. Below are some tips for using some popular ereader devices. Feel free to send your feedback and questions to info@archive.org.

For older non-Fire Kindles, you can only read Classic Ebooks not borrow Lending Library books.

How does borrowing a book work through archive.org?

The Internet Archive and participating libraries have selected digitized books from their collections that are available to be borrowed by one patron at a time from anywhere in the world for free. These books are in BookReader, PDF and ePub formats (and Daisy for the print disabled). You can choose which format you prefer as you complete the borrowing process.

BookReader editions may be read online immediately in your web browser. No special software is required.

Other Internet Archive loans are managed through Adobe Digital Editions, which you may need to download to manage your library of borrowed books.

How do I get set up to borrow books through archive.org?

Follow these steps:

1. Sign up for an archive.org account
2. Some ebooks require Adobe Digital Editions (This is where you can read the books you've borrowed, manage your current loans, or return books).
3. Get an Adobe.com account (If you create an Adobe account, you can access your library from a variety of locations. If not, your loans will be tethered to a specific computer or device.)
4. Find a book to borrow
5. If a BookReader edition is available, you can read it instantly online in your web browser. Other formats will require that you download a file and open it in Adobe Digital Editions

Can I borrow books on my Ipad or Android tablet?

Yes! You can read our books using our BookReader via your browser or by using a reader app like Bluefire Reader or Overdrive Media Console (iPad) or Aldiko Book Reader or Overdrive Media Console (Android tablet). For more information on Bluefire, go to their site at bluefirereader.com. Before you start, register an Adobe ID. You'll need to do this once. If you don't have one, create one at this page.

Here are some step-by-step instructions on using Overdrive Media Console:
1. Make sure you have downloaded and installed the free app "Overdrive Media Console" on to your iPad
2. Find a book you'd like to borrow; feel free to try a sample book that is small such as this one
3. Click on the "ebook" link under the "borrow" heading on the right
4. Log in if you have not logged in to archive.org
5. Choose one of the download options. Please note: Overdrive Media Console can not read PDFs.

Here are step-by-step instructions for Aldiko Reader:

1. Download and install Aldiko Book Reader from Google Play Store.
2. Open Aldiko, Select Other Catalogs under the Get Books section of the menu.
3. Select My Catalogs at the top and tap New Catalog on the green bar at the top.
4. Create an entry for the archive.org using openlibrary.org for the URL. Tap on the library and sign in.
5. When you have found a book you like, check it out. When the next screen comes up, select the pdf or epub version. You will then be prompted to enter your Adobe id and password. Your book will then download into Aldiko and you can open it and read it at your leisure.

The only downside to this process is that books can not be returned early via non-Adobe applications, so you'll just have to let them expire or we can return them early if you need to free up space on your loans list.

1. Quit Digital Editions, if it’s running
2. Plug in the Nook, and start ADE
3. ADE should recognize the Nook, and offer to associate with it. Make sure you can see the Nook under ‘Bookshelves’ on the left. Ok!
4. Go to the Lending Library and borrow a book in pdf or epub format.
5. If ADE is working properly, you should see your book!
6. Next, go to ‘Library View’ in ADE – in the upper left.
7. In the Library View, drag your new book over to the Nook icon under ‘Bookshelves.’
8. Quit ADE and eject your Nook.

To read on the Nook:

1. Go to your Library (on a Nook Color, do this by touching the bottom of the touchscreen)
2. Go to ‘my files’ – at the top – and open ‘Digital Editions’
3. Open your book! (if it says ‘sorry, can’t open this book’, try again.)

To return your book early so that others can borrow it:

1. Quit ADE if it’s running
2. Plug in your Nook and start ADE
3. Open ‘Library View’ and click ‘All Items’ on the left
4. On your book icon, there’s a drop down menu (a little triangle) in the upper left – select ‘Return Borrowed Item’
5. Open the Nook, in the bookshelf area on the left.
6. On your book icon – select ‘Return Borrowed Item’.
7. Your book should now be available to borrow again!

Yes, usually. If you borrowed a BookReader edition, simply return it from your Loans page.

If you downloaded another type of ebook, you'll need to do that through Adobe Digital Editions. If you checked out your book with other software like Overdrive Media Console or Bluefire Reader, you will not be able to return your book early.

In Adobe Digital Editions, look for your "library". That's the book spines icon in the top left corner of the application (1). Once you're in your library, click on the menu for book you'd like to return which is behind the tiny triangle that appears by the book cover (2) and select "Return Borrowed Item" from the menu (3). This image will show you where to look.

You may also be able to right-click on your item and select "Return Borrowed Item" from the contextual menu. Here is a screenshot of this option.

If you used other software to access your book, you may not be able to return it early but the item will be automatically returned at the end of the loan period. Please contact us if you are having trouble returning your items.

The Grateful Dead Collection

The Grateful Dead is separated from the Live Music Archive into its own
collection (with its own forum) to avoid confusion about lossless availability. The metadata and reviews for shows and recordings, even those not available for regular download, will remain available for those who maintain direct links. No filesets have been deleted from the Archive; certain items are simply not public now. Text files are available at a separate database.

At this time, the Grateful Dead collection is not open to public uploads. The Grateful Dead Internet Archive Project (GDIAP) will continue its direct management of this collection for the time being.

As far as we know, there has been no change to standard GD fan trading. It is common for bands to have policies that differ between fan trading, versus archiving here.

How do I search by date, by year?

On the Collection page you will see the years in the right hand column. Clicking them launches searches for those years.

If that information is in an item you will be able to see it on the details page. Recording metadata may include details page you may include:
Source - the path from original source to final file format
Taped by - the original taper
Transferred by - the person(s) who processed the audio to the final file that was uploaded

Why can't I upload to the Grateful Dead collection? At this time uploads by the public are prohibited at the request of the band.

At this time uploads by the public are prohibited at the request of the band.

Questions

Report Item

How do I report that there's an issue with an item?

The Internet Archive (Archive.org) is a nonprofit library that preserves digital cultural artifacts, and provides online access to over a million users a day with the goal of universal access to all knowledge.

To report an item that violates the Internet Archive's Terms of Use, please send an email with the URL (web address) of the item to info -at- archive.org

Some changes to our system, to individual items, or to collections can take a day to appear on Archive.org. If you're experiencing a problem with an item, we recommend trying again after a day. Often the issue will then have already been resolved.

How can I take my file off the site?

If you would like us to take down an item that you have uploaded, please send an email to info -at- archive.org

Please note that you need to include the URL (web address) of the item.

Your email must come from the same email address you used to upload the item. This is the only way we can tell that you are the owner of the item.

As always, if you write in, please be sure any spam filter you have is set to accept email from @archive.org.

Questions

Forums

How can I make links clickable in my posts?

You may have noticed that some posts have highlighted links in them. Internet Archive forums permit the use of HTML codes. Suppose you want to make a link to the Internet Archive home page, one that looks like this: Internet Archive home page. To do this, you would enter the following HTML code: <a href="http://www.archive.org">Internet Archive home page</a>.

How can I format text in my posts

Since the Internet Archive forum system accepts HTML codes, you can make text bold, italic, underlined, or even colored by using normal HTML codes. See WebMonkey for a list of HTML codes.

How do I subscribe/unsubscribe to a forum email list?

Next to all forums, you will see a small envelope. When logged in, you can click on this envelope which will allow you to subscribe or unsubscribe to any forum.

SFLan

How can I connect to SFLan?

With a laptop: Be in the vicinity of a SFLan node. Associate with it: The SSID is sflanNN, where NN is the number of node, e.g. sflan13. No WEP. You'll get an IP number assigned via DHCP.
With a house: Contact us at info at archive dot org. (Please include your address and a phone number.) Find out if you have line of sight to another SFLan node, buy a node, and we'll put it on your roof.

What about IP addresses?

SFLan uses real, routable IP addresses. These are usually given out dynically via DHCP. The nodes themselves use static addresses. We can also assign static addresses for servers.
For the techies: We use tunneling, layer 2 and layer 3 bridging in parts on the network to make it all appear as a "flat" LAN. There are pros and cons about this approach. It has worked best for us so far. However, it is a moving target, and might change in the future.

I still have more questions, what should I do?

SFLan is a work in progress. If you have more questions, try the SFLan forum. If you still need help, write to info at archive dot org.

I live at 123 Main St at Crossing; do I have line of sight access to a node?

You can try netstumbler or kismet to look for a SFLan ssid.

What is the cost of a node?

The nodes cost $1100, which includes the price of parts and installation. Discounts are potentially available depending on the location.

How can I get a node?

Send an email with your name, exact address and phone number to info at archive dot org. Be sure to write "SFLan node" (or something similar) in the subject line. The information will be passed on to our fantastic installation team who will contact you.

Most of our nodes are composed of two radios, but some have three. The components are in a weather tight box with a four foot coax cable and two antennas attached. The whole unit is mounted on your roof (generally) on a pole. There is a picture of our lovely 5'3" spokesmodel holding one here: http://www.archive.org/iathreads/uploaded-files/AstridB-PICT0017.JPG

What are the power requirements of a node?

A node takes on average 5 watts.

What are the connection characteristics of the network?

There are no average characteristics, but 2MBs shared among 20 or so people would be an example.

What is the percentage of uptime?

SFLan is an experimental network, so the uptime varies. Right now uptime averages around 90% or more.

Questions

Archive-It

What is Archive-It?

Archive-It is a subscription service that allows institutions to build and preserve collections of born digital content. Through the user-friendly web application, Archive-It partners can harvest, catalog, manage, and browse their archived collections. Collections are hosted at the Internet Archive data center and are accessible to the public with full-text search.

Why would I subscribe to Archive-It instead of using the Wayback
machine at Internet Archive?

Partners to this service can create distinct Web archives called
"collections", containing only the born digital content they are
interested in harvesting, at whatever frequency suits their needs. All
collections are full-text searchable. The collections created with
Archive-It can be cataloged with metadata and managed directly by the partner.
The Archive-It service maintains a minimum of two copies of each collection online, a primary and a back-up copy.

How frequently can I archive Web sites?

Archive-It is very flexible: you can harvest material from the Web
using ten different frequencies, from daily to annually.
Partners can select different crawl frequencies for each chosen
URL. Additionally, your institution can also chose to start a crawl
"on demand" in the case of an unforeseen spontaneous or historic event.

Who gets access to the collections created in Archive-It?

By default, all collections are available for public access from the
main page at www.archive-it.org. However, a partner can choose to have their collection(s) made private by special arrangement.

How can I search the collections?

Archive-It provides full text search capability for all public
collections. You can also browse by URL from the list provided for
each collection. The public can browse and search collections by
partner type or collection from www.archive-it.org.

What types of institutions can subscribe to Archive-It?

Archive-It is designed to fit the needs of many types of organizations. The 190+ partners include state archives and libraries, university libraries, federal institutions, non government non profits, museums, art libraries, and local city governments.

Who decides which content to archive in Archive-It?

Partners develop their own collections and have complete control
over which content to archive within those collections.

Where is the data stored for Archive-It collections?

All data created using the Archive-It service is hosted and stored by
the Internet Archive. We store two copies online and are working with
partners to have redundant copies in other locations. Partners can also request a copy of their data for local use and preservation to be shipped either on a hard drive or over the internet.

Errors

What does 'The item is not available due to issues with the item's content. If you would like to report this problem as an error report, you may do so here.' mean?

This error message simply means that the item has been removed from the site or is unavailable. There are a variety of reason why this might have occurred including:
• By request of the uploader
• Due to violation of our Terms of Use
• The item has no usable data
• In some cases it means that the server where the item live is temporarily in a read only state. Usually it is back to read/write within 24 hours. Occasionally it may take longer if the disk needs to have a rescue task run on it.

What does 'no metadata' mean when I'm trying to edit my files?

Typically this means that there was a server error while tasks were running. We can usually fix this. If you encounter this please contact us at info@archive.org. Please include the URL of the item.

Why won't my uploaded file create a flip book?

There are a variety of reasons that your uploaded file(s) my not have properly created the files necessary for the online book reader such as, but not limited to:
1. If you uploaded individual scan files they may not have been properly formatted into a compressed file that is named [identifier}_images.zip (where [identifier] is the identifier of your item page.)
2. The file(s) uploaded are corrupt or unreadable
3. The number of pages is too large and the derive task times out
4. The file name includes special characters or accented letters (please only use plain text, numbers, dashes and underscores for file names.)
5. The uploaded pdf file is missing the format extension in the file name
6. The language is missing from the item's metadata and the OCR module requires it.
7. The derive task queue is backed up (please be patient)
8. The dimensions in the pdf are not correct or within the acceptable size range.

How can I tell what has failed with my item?

Each item has a viewable task log. If you are the uploader you should see a "History" link on the left side of the item's details page. It will take you to the task log history.

If you see rows that are not purple that means either tasks are queued (green), are running (blue) or failed (red). If there is a red row please contact us to have it investigated. If there are blue or green rows please be patient and wait for them to run.